Admiralty Pier And Associated Structures, Including Admiralty Pier Lighthouse

This harbour pier, including its lighthouse, was constructed in two distinct phases. The landward half was built between 1847 and 1872 through three successive contracts, designed by the distinguished marine engineer James Walker and his pupil partner Alfred Burges, and completed after Burges's death by Sir John Robinson McClean FRS. Sir John Hawkshaw, engineer to the Harbour Commissioners, also contributed to the design. The contractors were Henry Lee and Sons. The seaward half represents an extension built between 1898 and 1909, designed by the firm of Coode, Son and Mathews to form part of the Admiralty Harbour of Refuge. The separately scheduled gun turret situated at the end of the 1872 section is not included in this listing. The attached Spur Pier and Cruise Terminal 2 are not of special interest.

Materials and Construction

The first part of the pier was constructed entirely of tooled granite ashlar, though later stages used pre-cast concrete blocks below the waterline. The later pier extension consists of concrete blocks weighing between 26 and 42 tons each, faced above sea level with tooled granite ashlar. The lighthouse is constructed of cast iron.

Layout

The earlier landward section measures 2,100 feet in length, aligned northwest to southeast, and terminates with the scheduled gun turret at its southeastern end. The later section extends 2,000 feet due east and has a lighthouse at its eastern extremity.

Description

Granite is visible along the entire length of the southwestern seaward side. The northeastern harbour side was extended outwards in 1909 to accommodate the Marine Railway station, and later in the 20th century for a cruise terminal, so the original fabric on this side is visible only towards the seaward end. A raised walkway runs along the southwestern side with flights of stone steps and 19th-century metal handrails.

About halfway along, where the 1872 pier terminated, stands the 1882 circular gun turret, which is protected by scheduling. This structure is faced in ashlar over brick and features a smaller circular cast iron projection with brick and stone parapet at its centre, measuring 11 metres in diameter and 3 metres high. The twin Armstrong muzzle-loading 81-ton guns survive internally, though the boilers and steam engine are no longer present. The guns are now embedded in a later wooden deck. In the chamber beneath the turret, the turret's iron framework and its traversing ring survive, as do the six-inch shell lifts.

The Admiralty Pier extension retains a number of cast iron cleats on the northeast side. Near the end of the pier extension on the southwest side is barrack accommodation for gunners. The pier terminates in a circular end, upon which the Admiralty Pier Lighthouse is built.

The lighthouse features a circular stone base supporting a central cylindrical iron column containing a staircase, surrounded by six iron supports that taper towards the top with cross-shaped iron ties. At the top is a circular room with small fixed windows, a projecting walkway supported on brackets, and a large round-headed lantern.

Historical Development

Admiralty Pier was begun in 1847 to form the western arm of Dover Harbour. The project arose directly from a third Royal Commission of 1845, which conceived a large national harbour of which Admiralty Pier was designed to be only one part. The other components of the scheme were never executed.

The pier was designed by James Walker (1781-1862) and Alfred Burges (1797-1886), and completed after Burges's death by Sir John Robinson McClean FRS (1813-1873). Sir John Hawkshaw (1811-1891), engineer to the Harbour Commissioners, also provided design input. The work proceeded in stages under three successive contracts executed by Henry Lee and Sons. By 1850, the pier had solved Dover Harbour's ancient problem of shingle drifting eastwards.

In 1861, the South Eastern Railway extended their line onto the still-unfinished Admiralty Pier to facilitate interchange with continental ferries, and from 1864 the London, Chatham and Dover line also ran onto the pier. Two parallel railway tracks served the two railway companies before their merger in 1899. By 1872, the structure had reached 2,100 feet in length.

Although granite was initially used throughout, concrete blocks were later employed below the waterline. Admiralty Pier was the first marine structure in the country in which pre-cast concrete blocks were used. In the mid-19th century, most breakwaters were constructed using the "pierre perdu" method (stones thrown in at random), but this was a notable example of a solid masonry structure with straight sides.

The pier included a lighthouse at the southeast end, and in 1882 a circular gun turret was constructed at this location containing twin Armstrong muzzle-loading 81-ton guns. Originally steam-driven, these were the only steam-powered guns ever possessed by the coastal artillery in Britain. By the end of the 1890s, the advent of breech loading made these guns obsolete.

In 1909, emplacements for two-inch breech loaders were constructed on either side with accommodation for gun detachments. In 1940-1941, a Bofors light anti-aircraft gun was mounted on the turret. The ordnance was removed in 1944, and the store and accommodation buildings were demolished in 1958.

Between 1898 and 1909, Admiralty Pier was extended by a further 2,000 feet as the western arm of Admiralty Harbour, which also included the Eastern Arm and the Southern Breakwater. The Admiralty Harbour was designed to provide a protected anchorage for the naval fleet and increase the protection of the already existing commercial harbour. It was constructed by the firm of Coode, Son and Mathews, the successor firm to Sir John Coode, probably the greatest harbour engineer of the 19th century.

The lighthouse, shown as disused on the 1907 map, was moved to the extreme end of the pier extension where it first appears on the 1937 Ordnance Survey sheet. In 1909, the pier structure was widened at the landward end to accommodate Dover Marine Railway Station for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Company. Guns were provided in concrete emplacements, with searchlights in boom defences to defend the entrance into the harbour between the Admiralty Pier and the Southern Breakwater.

During the First World War, Dover and its harbour formed one of the most important military centres in Britain. Troops and equipment were sent from Dover Harbour to the trenches, and the harbour served as a haven for warships and submarines. Dover Harbour operated the Dover Patrol, consisting of about forty warships, motor boats and fishing vessels which maintained control of the English Channel.

In 1926, it was decided that the Admiralty Harbour had limited military use, and it was transferred, including the Admiralty Pier, to the Dover Harbour Board for administration as a commercial undertaking. The widened landward end of the pier for the Marine Railway Station first appears on the 1937 Ordnance Survey map.

During the Second World War, Dover Harbour played a particularly important role in the Dunkirk evacuation, with 200,000 men returned from Dunkirk to Dover in eight days. After 1945, the navy withdrew. More recently, part of the Admiralty Pier extension has been widened to accommodate a cruise terminal.

Significance

This structure is designated at Grade II for its historic interest as the only part of Walker and Burges's mid-19th-century project for an artificial harbour for Dover to be constructed. It holds constructional interest as an unusual masonry structure for its date, rather than using the prevalent "pierre perdu" system, and represents technological innovation as the first marine structure in which pre-cast concrete blocks were used. The Admiralty Pier extension, added between 1898 and 1909, demonstrates significant engineering interest as the western breakwater to Admiralty Harbour, a huge and impressive engineering project to form a harbour of refuge for the British fleet and the first artificial harbour in the country to be built in the 20th century. The structure has group value as an integral part of the Admiralty Harbour, which also includes the Eastern Arm and the Southern Breakwater, and groups with two other listed harbour structures. The pier had an important wartime role during both world wars: in the First World War as a haven for battleships and submarines of the Dover Patrol protecting the English Channel, and in the Second World War for its part in the Dunkirk evacuation.